A jury found prescription drug-maker, Merck, guilty of negligence, and awarded a gazillion dollars to a woman who tragically lost her husband to a heart attack.

Plaintiff Carol Ernst has won her lawsuit in Texas Superior Court in Angleton, which blames Vioxx for the 2001 death of her husband, Robert Ernst, a 59-year-old marathon runner and Wal-Mart worker who was taking the arthritis painkiller at the time of his death. Ernst died of a heart attack.

The verdict held Merck liable for the death. Jurors voted 10-2 in favor of Ernst.

The jury awarded more than $250 million in total damages -- a $24 million penalty to Carol Ernst for mental anguish and loss of companionship and $229 million in punitive damages. Ernst's Houston-based lawyer, Mark Lanier, said the punitive-damages figure was based on "the money Merck made and saved by putting off their product label changes."

I don't know the facts of the case, so I'm not saying Merck is innocent. But this illustrates the types of risks that drug manufacturers face. Keep this in mind the next time some lefty talks about the evil drug companies and how much they charge for prescription medication.